DIABETIC RETINOPATHY INITIATIVE AUSTRALIA
The worldwide prevalence of diabetes is escalating at an alarming rate, creating a global public health crisis.
Sight For All is working in Australia and abroad to address the most common complication of diabetes, Diabetic Retinopathy.
Diabetic Retinopathy is the most common complication of diabetes, with one third of people with diabetes having this potentially blinding outcome.
Impacting 45 million people and 1.5 million Australians
There are currently 45 million people worldwide with vision-threatening Diabetic Retinopathy, which is expected to increase to 70 million by the year 2040.
Approximately 1.5 million Australians are estimated to be living with diabetes. Diabetic Retinopathy is the leading cause of preventable blindness in working age Australians, with a total indirect annual cost to Australia of $2.07 billion.
Sight For All is addressing this global health crisis in a variety of ways.
AUSTRALIA
In Australia, we have an ongoing public awareness initiative in Aboriginal communities utilising a series of educational videos including ‘Sid’s Bad Sugar’ and ‘Eyes’ by Caper.
We have also released a series of commercials about the impact of blindness, including ‘Neil’, a moving 30-second piece that features a man who suddenly went blind at the age of 50 due to neglect of his diabetes